When I stepped back into the restaurant business in my mid-twenties after nine months as a staff auditor with Arthur Andersen, I thought I was taking the easy road. After years of working in restaurants through high school and college, I had followed my dad’s advice to find a job in accounting. As a career IRS agent, he always told me that an accounting degree would guarantee me a job. But early on in my time as an auditor, I knew my heart wasn’t in it. I missed the energy and community in the hospitality world.

What I quickly realized after leaving my accounting job and taking a position as an assistant manager of a café in San Francisco, was that this path was anything but easy. Managing a restaurant staff means managing people whose education, cultural, professional, and language experiences are incredibly diverse. In place of my college accounting degree, I found myself wishing I had an advanced degree in psychology.